Men in the kitchen!

Some of you may be aware that it was recently Men’s Health Week and so it got me thinking of the men in my life. There is my father – obviously perfect in every detail; my better half - who I’ve already dragged into my previous blogs and then there are the three men I live with… Sorry guys but it was only a matter of time.

I’ve been living with them for two years now and during that time I’ve begun to notice that among them there are very distinct styles of cooking*. There is ;

The Hunter Gatherer

The Microwave Aficionado

The Connoisseur

The Hunter Gatherer

So first there is Joey**. Joey has quite the hectic lifestyle and between work, football training and playing matches there is little time for meal preparation and even less time to sit down and enjoy it. Because of this he usually throws a slab of meat onto the frying pan, eats a sandwich while it sizzles and has his dinner leaning against the countertop. As an athlete he also feels the need to fill up on all the protein and carbs he can get which sometimes results in large portions of spag ball!

If this sounds familiar, try and make sure that at least one third of the food on your plate is made up of vegetables or salad. Pasta or rice should only fill a third of your plate (and remember, wholegrain keeps you fuller for longer). Larger portions sizes have also been linked to excess weight gain.

The Microwave Aficionado

Next up is Chandler. Chandler leaves for work at 8am and doesn’t come back in the door again until 8pm! By that time he is usually exhausted, starved and in no mood to prepare a meal from scratch. Sometimes he opts for the easier option – the microwave ready meal. While he does choose reasonably healthy vegetable based dishes they are still bound to be laden with salt.

At the moment I am trying to get him to cut down on these highly processed meals by leaving (not so subtle) quick and easy meal and recipe plans around the kitchen in the hope one of them might catch his eye. I’ve also shown him the art of batch cooking i.e. cooking large portions and freezing some for another day. I must hand it to him though when he does have time he does make a mean Chilli!

Connoisseur

Last up is Ross. Just to put it out there - Ross is probably a better chef than Mr Oliver himself! He excels when in the kitchen and loves to show off his culinary skills by trying out new ingredients and recipes. The only downside of all this experimenting are all the rich ingredients he uses which has meant that I’ve had to renew my gym membership because the smell of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies is too hard to resist.

If this is you, great! If not why not take a leap of faith and try some of these back to basic recipes, you’d never know you might surprise yourself!

If you don’t know where to start or what should even be in your cupboard, don’t fret as help is on hand. Here are some helpful hints. By learning to cook you can control the ingredients and cooking methods used which results in much healthier dishes and subsequent health benefits, in the long run it can save you money and if you’re still not convinced I can tell you it also impresses the ladies!

Notes

* I am not exactly Rachel Allen myself
** In the interest of privacy I have changed names :)

About Me

Emily Kelleher
Hi, my name is Emily Kelleher and I am a Human Health and Nutrition Research Fellow at safefood. I’m a public health graduate with a keen interest in obesity and cardiovascular health and my day to day business involves reviewing the literature and report writing! When not buried in paper, I love the outdoors and at the weekend you will usually either find me on top of Torc Mountain in my beautiful hometown of Killarney or hiding behind a random lonely planet book planning my next adventure.